WORK will finally start on a bridge over troubled water in Kearsley — a year after plans to rebuild it were announced by water chiefs.

A £2 million proposal to replace Wilsons Bridge was announced 12 months ago by United Utilities but planning permission was not granted by Bolton Council until April this year.

Residents at the Kearsley area forum on Monday complained they had been waiting six years for the structure to be replaced.

Bernadette Tither, who lives in Farnworth, said at the meeting: “I would like to know when the work will be done because it affects people in Little Lever and Farnworth who want to walk across it. We just haven’t heard anything about it for months now.”

United Utilities have since confirmed work will start by August, with the project expected to take eight months.

Ian Grzelak, project manager for United Utilities, said: “Now that we have all the relevant permissions in place, we are finalising our plans with a view to starting work at the end of July or early August.

“We held a public exhibition last week which was very well attended by local residents and proved a useful opportunity for us to talk through the project with them. We’d like to thank everyone for their patience with what is a complex engineering project.”

Engineers had to work out how to remove the existing structure without damaging scientific and heritage sites nearby.

The meadow between the bridge and Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal became a designated site of “special scientific interest” after Natural England discovered rare moss and other protected plants growing there.

United Utilities, which is partly responsible for the bridge, along with Bolton Council, said that restricted access to the site was another problem.

The water company is paying for 90 per cent of the project, with the council covering the other 10 per cent.

Engineers will need a 500 tonne crane to put the new bridge in position, however, the only crossing point over the canal is a neighbouring historic bridge with a 7.5 tonne weight limit.

United Utilities will construct a temporary bridge to ensure the crane can cross the canal safely.